Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ures 185km from north to south and 208km from east to west is Mutla Ridge, just north of
Kuwait City. The coast is a little more characterful, with dunes, marshes and salt depres-
sions around Kuwait Bay and an oasis in Al-Jahra.
Of the nine offshore islands, the largest is Bubiyan Island, while Failaka Island is the
most historic: there are plans afoot to develop a container port on the former and a vast
tourist complex on the latter, but at present there is not much to see on either island.
Wildlife
The anticlockwise flow of Gulf currents favours Kuwait's shoreline by carrying nutrients
from the freshwater marshes of Shatt al-Arab and the delta of the Tigris and Euphrates in
southern Iraq. The result is a rich and diverse coastline, with an abundance of marine life
that even the poisoning of spilt oil has failed to destroy.
ANIMALS
Pearly goatfish, the oddly spiked tripod fish and the popular dinner fish of silver
pomfret
are just some of the myriad species of fish that frequent the fishermen's nets along Kuwait
Bay. Crabs tunnel in the mud flats near Doha Village, surviving in extreme temperatures
and aerating the mud for other less durable bedfellows - such as the tiny mudskipper that
sorties out for a mouthful of mud and water with which to build the walls of its castles in
the sand. Propped up on their fins for a gulp of oxygen, they provide a tasty titbit for
black-winged stilts, teals, lesser-crested terns and huge nesting colonies of Socotra cor-
morants, which share the coastline, and they trap algae in their geometric homes that feed
the flamingos.
Inland, birds of prey, including the resident kestrel and the short-toed eagle, roam the
escarpments. The desert comes alive at night with rare sightings of caracal, and hedgehog,
big-eared fennecs - the smallest canines in the world - and jerboas, which gain all the li-
quid they need from the plants and insects they eat. It is easier to spot the dhobs, a monit-
or lizard with a spiny tail, popular as a barbecue snack. And, of course, no Arab desert is
the same without the diligent dung beetle or the scorpion.
In terms of endangered species, given the events of the past few years, it's remarkable
that a few more species have not been added to the familiar list of desert mammals, like
oryx and gazelle, made regionally extinct through hunting. The desert wolf has made
something of a comeback in recent years and has been spotted near residential areas.
PLANTS
After the winter rains, corridors of purple-flowered heliotrope bloom everywhere, and the
highways are decorated with borders of assorted wild flowers. There are about 400 plant
